Survival
by Rotashark
Summary: Two girls a and teenage twin boys are suddenly pulled into life in the caves. One day they are the last people on Earth and the next they live in a subterrenian humman city. Could life here really be home?
1. Raiding

**disclaimer: i own nothing**

I wandered through the back door of the department store. Dumb aliens, they didn't even bother to lock the door, they never did. Of course, who would need to if you lived in a perfect world? But it wasn't perfect for my twin brothers Alex and Dan or my best friend, Sandra or I. Why? Because our planet has been invaded. I never imagined the world coming to an end the way it had.

Aliens had taken over our planet, inserted themselves in our bodies, and erased our minds. For all I knew, the four of us might be the last of humanity and we all knew it. We always had hope that there were others like us, hiding somewhere, but if seekers couldn't find them, how could we? Hope, prayer, luck, good fortune and determination, was the only way we survived now.

I went to the clothes section. I grabbed six shirts for Alex and Dan and three for Sandra and three for me. We all needed new underwear so I picked out packages of those. I stuffed all of this in my large hikers pack. Two pairs of shorts for each of us. Dan needed some more sunglasses; I had grown out of my last pair of boots…. I got a baseball cap for us. We needed to hide our eyes from the aliens.

I gave a sigh of relief that Alex was still outside with his stolen motorcycle.

"Gee Amy what took you so long?" Alex asked as I climbed onto the back of the bike.

"I was only in there a few minutes" I retorted, my voice muffled by the helmet that I had slid onto my head.

"Yeah, I know. Come on let's go. I hope Sandra and Dan brought back something good this time." Alex and Dan were sixteen, Sandra was fifteen and I was fourteen. Tonight Sandra and Dan had gone and got us food, they had raided on the other side of Phoenix and they had taken our other motorcycle. We were silent as Alex drove back to our camp area on the outskirts of the city. It was in the desert; we hid our motorcycles in some bushes and waited for Dan and Sandra to come back.

Twenty minutes had gone by. Where were they? I looked to Alex, but he had his masked expression on his face. I knew he was worried. What if they had gotten caught? What if they were pinned down somewhere by the seekers? I shuddered at the thought. Seekers were relentless. They sought out surviving humans and then used those humans' memories to lead them to more humans. I remembered a time when we were not so fortunate.

Our mom had died in a car accident a few months before the invasion. Our dad had taken to drinking. He beat Alex one night while he was drunk and that set us all up for adoption. I was eight at the time, Dan and Alex were ten. Then Maria found us.

Maria was a thirty year old Hispanic mother. She had married an American when she moved to the states. She spoke mostly broken English. Originally she had wanted to adopt me to play with her daughter Sandra who was a year older than me. I wouldn't go unless Dan and Alex went with me as well. She fell in love with them and ended up getting us all. I remembered my joy when I found out I would get a sister.

For a few months we lived with Maria and her husband, John. Then the aliens came. We left in the dead of night. John had not come home that night. Maria was nervous as she drove out in her car on the back roads. We drove from California to Mexico that night. She said not to talk, we fell asleep. We had stayed the night in a secluded spot in the middle of no where.

The next day Maria told us that there were dangerous people everywhere, that they had silver eyes and scars on the back of their necks. We should never go near anyone ever again. She said she we were in Mexico because they would take the powerful countries first and the large cities. She said it didn't matter if we knew the person or not we shouldn't talk to them. Sandra asked tearfully where her father was and all Maria could say is that he was gone.

Maria went to her family's poor farm in the country and told them to hide. Later we understood that the alien in John's body would come looking for her here as well as her family. I remembered the tearful goodbyes in Spanish and the cries of everyone knowing they would probably never see each other again.

For the next few years we drove into cities at night and raided stores. Very rarely were the back doors ever locked. She would park the van right outside and walk in. She would reappear with food for us among other things.

Then walking around in cities became more and more risky. We had each been given a knife for protection and Maria had a small revolver. Thankfully we had never had to use them. It had been four years since we had been on the run and lately we had been having some close calls with the seekers. One night while raiding a large grocery store in Las Esperanzas, Mexico, our luck ran out.

**A/N I know this was kinda short and nothing really happens. I was just trying to get down some background info on the characters. review please, it might get updated quicker. thanks for reading. thank you sooo much**

**Leah**


	2. Grief and Joy

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my favorite characters; Alex, Dan, Amy, Sandra and Maria

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my favorite characters; Alex, Dan, Amy, Sandra and Maria.**

**A/N: Thank you so much for those who reviewed! J.K. Meyer and Chistineangel100, you two are the best.**

_"Alright everyone split up and find some food." We did as Maria told us, the four kids headed toward the back of the store to find food while Maria stayed at the front to get some fruits and vegetables. We were done stuffing our packs and heading back to Maria when noises sounded from outside. Cars doors slamming and fast approaching helicopter blades. Maria saw us and motion wildly for us to hide. We were shocked and scared we ran behind some check out counters. Maria was behind us. The seekers burst in with guns and flashlights that swept around the store. Maria ducked behind the counters with us._

_Maria had tears in her eyes as she looked at us. She hugged Sandra to her chest and whispered in her ear, "Sandra, lo __siento__, __caniño__. Te __quiero__mas__que__ nada. __Nunca__pararé__ de __quererte__. __Nunca__." Sandra's voice was just silent sobs and she could respond. Maria released Sandra and she turned to Dan and Alex. _

_"Take care of her and yourselves. I love you all. I'm sorry. No matter what happens, keep fighting." With that Maria stood up. Sandra began to scream in protest but Dan covered her mouth and pinned her to the ground. Alex covered my mouth as well. Maria was half way to the seekers and their flashlights found her. She froze and stared at them with her head held high.. They shone light in her eyes and no reflection bounce of. We trembled from our hidden hiding spot as we saw here standing there in the spotlight. The seekers moved forward to grab her. Maria pulled her gun out. The seekers moved faster and began to yell in Spanish at one another. Maria aimed the gun at her own heart. My Sandra's and my screams were muffled by my brothers' hands. A gunshot. I watched in horror as my adoptive mother crumbled and fell dead to the ground. Maria had won. She had killed herself to protect us. The seekers would never know we existed. I was frozen in horror. Sandra was trashing, Alex let go of his grip on me to hold her down. Maria was dead. We couldn't survive without her. _

We did survive without her though. The seekers didn't find us and decided Maria was the only human. We walked by night to the next town and stole to motorcycles. Dan and Alex who were fourteen at the time read the manual and taught themselves how to ride. Sandra stayed isolated and in her own little world for a time. Then it all came out she would cry until the mourning, look up at the stars and sigh. Maria had died human to save us from being erased.

My brothers fulfilled Maria's last wishes: to take care of Sandra and themselves, and to never stop fighting.

Sandra needed Dan, she would cry on his shoulder and he would try to calm her. For the past to years they had been acting less like brother and sister and more like lovers. They weren't involved with each other yet, just best friends who needed and cared about the other. Alex took care of us he decided where to raid and where to go. He was the head of the family and he watched out for us. He was also my best friend who looked out for me all the time.

Since Mexico we had wandered around Texas for awhile and then turned north. It had gotten to cold and our lack of clothing made us turn south again. Now we were in Arizona. We had planned to stay here only a short while, it was so _hot_.

However we had heard rumors about humans living in this area. We would stop by near towns and try to find more information. If there were any humans out there we would try our hardest to contact them.

I was brought back to Earth when I heard the sound of approach. I hoped it was Sandra and Alex. Yes it was them. Finally they were here they were pushing their motorcycle though the sand of the desert. I heard Alex heave a sigh of relief. I ran out to help them.

"You're back!" I explained happiness flooding through me as I saw Sandra's pack full. My stomach growled in hunger. I hadn't eaten all day, none of us had.

"Thank you, captain obvious," Laughed Sandra. Laughing was something that we didn't so often, but right now it felt like Christmas. This was one of our first long raids in awhile and we had "gifts" for everyone. We sat around in a circle smiling. I couldn't remember when I had last felt this happy. Sandra and I sat next to each other our packs in our laps and we began passing out food and clothing. I gave everyone their new clothes and other things I had picked up. Sandra gave us the food, it was good. Tomorrow we would head for Tucson in hope of more information on humans. Hope had given us life again and a reason to live one more day. We cleared a space on the ground to sleep. I huddled down between Sandra and Alex. Sandra was busy running her fingers through her dark curly hair and Alex was gazing quietly at the stars. Dan was already out and snoring softly.

"Well goodnight everyone," I sighed as I closed my eyes feeling completely content. Tomorrow would be a good day, I knew it.

**A/N: Here's chapter everyone, tell me how you like it. Not much happens and it will probably be another chapter before any excitement. This is the longest chapter so far, over a thousand words; some of them are pretty short, sorry. I hope to update again sometime next week maybe. Sorry if that's a disappointment, I have a lot going on. Thank you all for reading my story, especially those of you who reviewed. I hope you liked it,**

**Leah**


	3. Tracks

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer, the awesome person who created The Host owns everything except my characters Amy, Sandra, Alex and Dan

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer, the awesome person who created **_**The Host**_** owns everything except my characters Amy, Sandra, Alex and Dan. **

**Chapter 3**

I stared at the empty dessert passing by slowly. I was on the back of Alex's motorcycle. Sandra and Dan were a few miles ahead of us seeing the same thing we did; sand, rocks and cactus. We were on our way to Tucson, where more rumors of humans were.

Apparently a few months ago a seeker's car had been found abandoned in the desert outside the city and it looked as if the seeker had been killed by hyenas. The body was never found. She, no it, had been looking for another alien who had disappeared the same way while going to Tucson. Dan had found the story in a newspaper a while ago. The aliens had accepted the coincidence and moved on and put up warnings of wild dogs. We however thought something else might be up. Humans.

The desert sun beat down on us. It was hot here, to hot. Even moving on a desolate never ending road at sixty miles an hour I was hot. The hot air roared in my ears as it blew past me and brought no relief to the heat. You could _see_ the heat rising in columns from the sand and the pavement, and it wasn't even summer yet. I peered around Alex's shoulder, I wondered if I would be able to see Dan and Sandra from here. I was so bored. On long trips like these I would try to see pictures in the clouds, but here it didn't work. The empty blue skies were no comfort. They made me feel venerable and so did the glaring sun if I stared at the sky to long. As it turns out we missed the rainy season, I couldn't imagine it raining here.

I wanted to hurry up and get out of this wasteland. Of _course_ the aliens didn't speed, they were too _good_ for that, or so they thought. Usually I liked riding the motorcycle. I liked the feel of the wind in my face, whipping at my clothes and the hair that fell out of my helmet and the road giving way beneath our tires and the continuous loud hum of the engine. But under a never ending blue sky it made me uncomfortable.

"Alex, when are we going to get there? My butt is killing me and I haven't eaten since this mourning," I shouted over the wind and the motorcycle.

"We're not stopping till we get to Tucson. And for your butt hurting and you starving suck it up," laughed Alex and I joined in. The wind took away our laughter make it become faint. It felt good just to _laugh_ again.

In truth I wasn't really suffering at all. I just had to think about what I would've complained about_ if_ the aliens hadn't taken over. We had had to "suck it up" to worse before.

"We should be there in about an hour", said Alex more serious now.

"Okay," I said. Only one more hour of this desolate desert and then we could find a place outside the city to hide.

"Agh", I grunted. So this was their idea of outside the city. Well if it kept us away from seekers, good.

It was night time now. After Alex had decided that staying in the city or the surrounding area he decided to camp out here in the desert. We drove back out for a while, I forget how long and now we were pushing the bikes through the sand. Ugh. I hated to think that we would just have to push them pack to the road if we wanted to go on a raid.

It seemed as if we had been pushing our motorcycles forever when Alex finally saw it fit for us to stop. There was a pile of rocks as we approached we found that was a small cave.

"It doesn't get much better than this", remarked Alex. We all mumbled in agreement. My arms and back ached from pushing the motorcycles. I could think of some better things, but under the circumstances, I had to agree. We hadn't been caught; we had a shaded place to rest during the day. Yes this would do. I collapsed on the sand. Something caught my eye.

"Alex, Dan come look at this", I called my voice rising with each note. I heard them heave themselves of the ground and come over. All I could do was point. I heard them gasp behind me. _Tire tracks. _I looked around for more but they cut off as they left the cave. I turned to face my brothers. Their faces were just as shocked as mine.

"Well?" I asked starting to panic. "What do they mean?" I was verging toward hysterical, my voice rising with each word. I stared at Alex and Dan looking for some kind of logical explanation.

Sandra, who had been close to falling asleep, was woken by the commotion of our discovery was now stumbling over. She was now gapping at the same thing we were. Tire tracks. How had they gotten here? They cut off as they lift the cave. How?

The initial shock wore off. Alex begun pacing and mumbling incoherently to himself. Then he spoke to us.

"These tracks were either made by humans or seekers", he stated. "They stop at the cave entrance so however made them doesn't want to be found." He stopped again and took a deep breath. "It could be some seekers trying to hide their presence from humans or…

"Humans. Either way it means we're on the right track." We stared at Alex with dumbstruck expressions. Humans, near, in the desert? These tracks weren't more than a day old. The thought filled me with hope, hope and fear.

What if seekers had made these tracks? Would they come back? I shuddered at the thought at meeting a seeker in the near future.

I remembered the tracks we had made in the desert and how we had painstakingly tried to cover them up the best we could.

"Let's do something with our bikes," suggested Dan.

"Like what," asked Alex.

"Well, we could _try _to hide them better."

"Yeah" he agreed.

Our choices for hiding our motorcycles were pretty scanty. The cave wasn't _all _that big. We hid one behind a corner and shove the other one into a small crevice. The hiding spots weren't the best and left a good portion of the bike uncovered. We covered some of the bikes with our nondescript spare clothes.

What if this cave belonged to a seeker? What could they do? What _was _there to do? We could fight, but seekers had guns. It wasn't like they could just roam around in the desert. Sandra was for leaving but Alex and Dan agreed with me when I said we should stay here. We couldn't just walk away when we were _this _close to finding others like us. We decided to figure out if they were aliens or not before making our move. What was our move? I had no clue.

The Sun would rise in an hour or so. I had been up the whole night pushing motorcycles through sand. I hadn't slept in twenty four hours and I was hungry. I wasn't in the mood to eat. All I could do was sleep. I collapsed next to Sandra who was already asleep.

Suddenly Dan jumped to his feet fallowed by Alex. They were both listening intently to something. That's when I heard it too.

The silence of the desert was interrupted by the sound of an approaching engine. Someone or something was toward us.

**A/N: So here it is. Chapter three. It took my longer than expected to post it. But it's here so be happy. You should be glad to know that the next chapter is about halfway done. There is no school Monday! Yes it's a holiday. I should have some more time to write. Halloween is coming soon. YeY!! I'm happy. WoW, I got a bit off topic. Review please. This story has gotten many hits…and not so many reviews. Thank you,**

**Leah**


	4. Betrayed

Disclaimer-that-we-must-write-before-each-chapter: If I was Stephanie Meyer then you would have to pay to read this

**Disclaimer-that-we-must-write-before-each-chapter: If I was Stephanie Meyer then you would have to pay to read this. However…since I'm not Stephanie Meyer you don't. Also I only own my characters. Any one familiar that pops up is Stephanie's. Now, on with the story.**

**Chapter 4**

I stood between Alex and the wall with my knife at the ready. Sandra and Dan stood next to Alex. We all wore the same grim expression as our fate drew closer. In the moonlight I could see a lump, which I knew as a car coming for our small cave. As it got closer I could tell that it was too large for a car and too small for a truck. It was a van. I heard the noise of the engine as the van slowly made its way towards us, its tires making a grating sound as they crushed the sand beneath them.

My heart was hammering in my chest as the vehicle slowly approached us. If it was seekers we would be ready. It seemed as if the would never reach us and that they were coming too fast all the same. _Let them try and capture us, _I thought.

Suddenly I was pushed into the wall. I heard my shoulder and head thump against the rock and then I felt a searing pain as I heard a snap. My head throbbed and black dots danced across my vision. Alex grabbed my shoulder and mouthed words that I didn't hear. He had shoved me into the wall. _No! Alex you need my help. I can…I can fight. No!_ I screamed inside my head. How could he. I tried to fight the darkness that overcame me. I hoped that was not the last time I ever saw my family again.

**A/N: I know this is a short chapter and I haven't updated in awhile. I feel really bad leaving you guys hanging. I will update again just don't expect it to be soon. Love you all who keep reading this. I know what you're probably thinking about Amy getting pushed into the wall. All shall be revealed in due time.**

**Leah**


	5. This is just great not!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my few awesome characters

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my few awesome characters. Just for you to know.**

**Chapter 5**

**ALPOV**

"Damn it" I murmured under my breath. I had tried to push Amy in a crevice so that she could hide and not be found and stay out of the fight. However I had failed there.

Instead of pushing her into the gap, I had accidently shoved her into the wall. She was unconscious and on the ground. _Stupid, Alex. Just great_. Dan stared at me unnerved, but understood what I had been trying to do. If I could I would hide them all and face the seekers alone. _Like Maria. _I thought grimly to myself. I would fight to the death to save my family. I would not give up. I couldn't peel my eyes from the fast approaching van. I expected the worse.

The van came closer. We stood in silence as it plowed through the sand. I put Amy's limp form in the crevice and Sandra cowered behind Dan. He hugged ourselves as close to the jagged wall as we cloud get.

I could see to people in the van. The van stopped and I knew we had been spotted. I tensed. I man stepped out of the drivers side which he had difficulty doing due to the lack of space. I didn't wait. I lunged.

**A/N: Another short chapter. You're just going to have to live with it. Would you rather have long chapters that take me awhile to type? Or short ones that I can post frequently? That is unless I get ground, the computer doesn't work, or I have too much homework. Thank you for all of you who have reviewed. Ohhhh cliffy I know. Next chapter. You'll just have to wait.**


	6. Impossible

Disclaimer: I shall be boring this time

**Disclaimer: I shall be boring this time. I own nothing, besides Alex, Amy, Sandra and Dan.**

**Chapter 6**

_I didn't wait. I lunged_

I jumped on the alien and pinned him to the ground, my knife at his throat. He was shocked my sudden attack. From inside the van a female voice screamed. I heard Dan rush over to get the other seeker. I didn't notice it before but the man had a flashlight in his hand. He shined the beam of light into my eye. I stared into it. Yes, I was human. Not that it mattered. The alien wouldn't live more than a few more minutes.

Then he did something unexpected. He shined the light into his own eyes.

I gasped.

No reflection bounced off.


	7. This can't be happening

Disclaimer: Ah hem

**Disclaimer: Ah hem. I think I shall write the longest disclaimer that I ever have. So Stephanie owns, basically everything. Save for my characters: Amy, Alex, Dan, Sandra and Maria who's heroic actions are the reason my characters are living. So there for, I own very little. If you read all of this you must be very bored. I'm sorry.**

**A/N: Some of you may of notice that I did not leave an author's note at the end of the last chapter. Well, I was too excited to notice until I posted it. Also I did not feel like going back and fixing my mistake. So enough endless chatter: on with the story.**

**Chapter 7**

I had the female alien's arms pinned behind its back. Sandra rushed to my side.

I heard Alex gasp.

I stared at Alex wondering.

"Dan, stop," he said, his voice shaky. "They're- they're human."

I stared at Alex with disbelief. He was helping the man up with a blank expression on his face. I spun the woman around and shone our small light in her eyes. No light bounced back off to blind me. Her eyes were just an ordinary human's.

I released her and took a step back. She gave me one last glance and ran over the man, mumbling something I couldn't make out.

Sandra pressed her face into my shoulder.

"We found them. Dan we found them. We're not alone!"

"Yes, we found them." I whispered in her ear. She turned her head to face me and our lips meet for the first time.

**A/N: Thank you so much for those of you who have reviewed, they're much appreciated. 'K, I like short chapters. They're fun to write and make me feel like I'm getting somewhere. I hoped you like this chapter. I love updating cause then you get tons of email a few hours after you post a new chapter. Thank you all my awesome fans. P.S. I would like to see Alex in a leather jacket too. Too bad they're in the desert. Bye, bye for now.**

**Leah**


	8. Repairs

Disclaimer: I do not own The Host

**Disclaimer: I do not own ****The Host**** and hardly any of this story belongs to me. Cause if I did I would be rich and famous. But I'm not rich or famous and I write for fan fiction. Oh well, one day, maybe…**

**Chapter 8**

I helped the man up. I felt bad for almost killing him. He brushed off his clothes and turned from me to open his arms for the woman that bounded into them. I turned away and went to go see to Amy. _We found them. We found them. We found them. Us, teenagers. . We did it. We're alive. _Thoughts jumbled through my head. I saw Dan and Sandra making out. I groaned internally, now really wasn't the time. But, I was too excited in finding others of our kind to really mind.

I laid Amy on her back to look at her. The side of her forehead was covered in a dark liquid that I knew was blood. On her shoulder was a quickly forming bruise. Now I felt bad. I had hurt my little sister unintentionally and it didn't look so good. I cut off part of my shirt and wrapped it around her head. Not the most sanitary bandage but it would stop the bleeding. I sighed and picked her up. Dan came over and saw Amy in my arms and gave me a this-could-be-bad look.

The humans came over apparently looking a little uncomfortable with their close to death encounter. The man saw Amy unconscious and spoke.

"Ah, well. I think we should get her in the car and get her back to Doc. He'll fix her up. We can talk on the way there."

I hesitated before fallowing him around to the back. How could I not trust him? We were part of a dying race and had to work together.

Attached to the back was a heavy tarp that was designed to wipe the sand free of tracks. I crawled into the back along with Dan and Sandra. They both looked a little unsure. I shrugged and cradled Amy in my lap. I was curious to see how these humans had survived throughout the invasion of our planet. The man turned a small light a said something about he had lost his keys. I saw his features clearly. He was middle aged, was balding and had round cheeks. The woman turned to us. She had a long braid that went half way down her back and she was also middle aged. She spoke to us in a pleasant voice.

"Hello, I'm Trudy and this is my husband Geoffrey. You gave us quite a scare back there. What are your names?"

I told her our names pointing to each of us in turn.  
Geoffrey had found his keys and was starting up the engine. Then he spoke to us. "I noticed you have some nice motorcycles here, we can come back and get them later. So how exactly does a group of teenagers end up roaming around in the desert on their own and are just so fortunate to bump into us, eh?"

**A/N: Hello everyone and thank you for all your wonderful reviews. I love you guys. You're all very encouraging and that's giving me my will power to write and update frequently. Review, Review, REVIEW!! I love opening my inbox and seeing how many people review. P.S. The more reviews I get, the more likely I am to update sooner. Keep reading!**

**Leah**


	9. Hope so

**Disclaimer: I don't own this. I wish I did, but I don't.**

**This took forever. WHY? BECAUSE I HAVEN'T HAD INTERNET FOR 12 DAYS!!! Yeah so I was (am) kinda pissed. **

**Chapter 9**

**ALPOV**

I told them we were looking for a campsite outside of Tucson when we stumbled upon their cave. In turn they told us about the cave system they lived in. There were around forty humans living in them. The number was baffling. All three of us were astounded. There were even four other groups roaming about as well. All this time…

They had offered to give Amy something to wake her up, but I refused. I wouldn't doubt I had hurt her badly when I rammed her into the rock wall. I didn't want her to wake up and feel the pain of her injuries. I stared at her face as I ran my fingers through her golden brown hair, a few shades lighter than my own and Dan's. I truly hoped she would forgive me about all this.

Dawn broke the horizon as Geoffrey parked the van under an over hanging by a rock outcropping. Trudy came around to open the back for us. We stumbled out. I picked up Amy again.

"Do you want help with her?" asked Dan.

"No, I got her" I said trying to stifle back a yawn. After all, I was the big idiot who got her knocked out in the first place.

Ugh! How long had it been since we last slept? Twenty four hours? More? My head hurt just thinking about it.

Trudy brought us to an entrance to the cave. I had to duck my head and turn sideways carrying Amy to get in.

"Watch your step and fallow me" Trudy warned

We fallowed her down a tunnel with twist and turns. Darkness engulfed us leaving us no light. Our only guide was Trudy's footsteps in front of us. Finally there was light ahead. The passage way opened up into a large cavern with an extremely bright ceiling.

"Mirrors" said Geoffrey from behind us.

We walked around a large patch of dirt that I took for a garden, and had something sprouting up from it. We continued into another passageway. This one open up to what looked like a dinning hall. It was packed with people who stared at us as we passed through it.

I realized how strange of group we must make. Four filthy teens, one that happens to be unconscious, that pop up as everyone is eating breakfast. A few of them got up and ask Geoffrey questions as he leaves us to go eat. Trudy led us down one last final _very_ long passage.

Trudy usher us into the cavern. There were a two men standing behind a desk looking over some containers. They looked up surprised when we entered.

"Well Doc, Jared" said Trudy "I got some new comers here and a patient that needs some looking at."

I laid Amy on one of the cots that was in the room. The slighter of the two men came over to look at her. I let him remove the crude bandage to look at her head and then pointed out the large purple bruise near her shoulder. He let out a long whistle then set to work.

"It's okay Alex, she'll be fine" said Sandra putting a hand on my shoulder. I grunted in return. _Sandra I hope you're right. _

**Okay so I didn't have internet and that complicates things. But… it's being posted so happy reading! REVIEW!!!!!!!!! Oh I finally figured out which direction I'm going with this. I promise not to try to be boring. So… Questions, Comments or Concerns? Bye everyone and thanks to all my reviewers. **


	10. Panic

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Host and do not pretend to.**

**Chapter 10**

I felt the sunlight on my face. I was starting to wake up. I didn't want to. I rolled over. I stopped. I wasn't on the ground. I was on a _flat _surface. The events from last night came rushing back.

The van. The rocks. Alex. Alex!

I didn't move realization hit me. I had been unconscious. I was on a sort of bed. No. No! This couldn't happen. Had the seekers caught us? What happen? Where were Alex, Dan and Sandra? I was about to be erased?

I felt two hands grip my shoulders. I screamed. My eyes flew open and I made a grab for my knife in its sheath. It wasn't there. Well, I wasn't about to go down without a fight. My attacker spun me around to face him. It was Alex and he was human.

"Alex?" I was cut off when he pulled me into a tight embrace. He rested his chin on the top of my head before he pulled away from me keeping his hands on my shoulders.

"Amy, you're safe now. Nothing will hurt you. Wait, are you hurt? Are you okay?"

"Alex. What?" I asked exasperated.

"Are you okay?" he repeated. I processed his words. I remembered getting rammed into the wall. I checked my shoulder. There wasn't even a scratch. I swung my arm in a circle. It felt fine.

"How?" I asked staring mouth open at him.

"Long story. Oh Amy, I'm so sorry for slamming you into the wall, it was so stupid of me. I was trying to push you into the crevice, but I guess I failed. Huh?"

"Why were you trying to push me into the crack? And while you're at it, where are we?" I asked taking in my surroundings. We were in a cave that was lighted by sunlight coming from holes in the ceiling. It had cots in it and a desk at one end of the room.

"Amy," he began, taking me by the hands and sitting me down with him on one of the cots in the room. "Amy, I shoved you in the wall because I didn't want you in the fight."

"But why? I may not be as good as you o-"

"No Amy. Not because of that."

**A/N: This was another short chapter. My life is so screwed up right now. Well one of by BFFs got back today from a long vacation so YEY! I sent an email to the person in charge of movies over here asking when **_**Twilight **_**would get here. All I got back was a Nasty-Gram saying "Blah blah blah. We don't know if we will get **_**Twilight **_**or not so don't ask." I felt totally unloved after that. Mean person. Also I won't get to see Twilight till after Christmas **_**or **_**I'm going to have to watch it dubbed in Spanish which won't be any good at all. So that's my sob story. **


	11. Safe

**Disclaimer: I don't own the **_**Host**_**, never will.**

**Chapter 11**

**ALPOV**

How could I tell her?

"Amy, I have lost Mom and Dad, and even Maria. I couldn't… I _can't_, lose you as well."

"I don't see you pushing Dan or Sandra into a crack in the wall"

"Dan is my equal. He is not my responsibility being the same age as me. Sandra is my adoptive sister and as much as I love her, it's not nearly as much as I love you. You Amy are my younger sister. I am supposed to take care of you. If you had gotten hurt…" My voice cracked and trailed off. I didn't want to think about it.

She hugged me and we both cried.

"It's okay. We're both safe now" I whispered stroking her hair."

**APOV**

Questions swirled in my head. Alex knowing what I was going to ask said "You're just clueless and wondering how we got here." I nodded.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Sandra and Dan burst through the entrance to the room, if that's what you could call it. They were fallowed by another man, tall and lanky.

"Amy!" cried Sandra out of breath and ran up to give me a hug.

"Oops, wait." She said backing off, "Are you okay? How's you're shoulder?" she asked panicky.

"I'm fine." I said quickly.

"We heard screaming," said Dan.

"You would scream too if you woke up and didn't know where you were…which I, still don't." I replied.

Sandra then launched herself into the position of story teller. I listened intently as she told me what happen after I had lost consciousness. After a small fight where no one was injured, they discovered that their adversaries were humans. Then they took us in their van to their underground secret hideout where we were now. I was amazed to hear that about forty people lived in the caves and that they had discovered other groups as well. That meant that there were more than a hundred humans or so in the area. And that's just this area and the ones we know about!

As I listened the man who had came in with Sandra and Dan, the doctor, or Doc as the others called him, examined my upper arm, shoulder and head. Everything felt fine.

Dan then talked about how Doc fixed me up with the alien medicine that worked really fast and fixed my broken bone in my upper arm.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Um, two o'clock in the afternoon," said Dan.

"What? You let me sleep for hours and hours."

"You needed it" said Alex simply.

"Yes, you did" said Doc. I sighed and gave up.

"Hungry?" asked Sandra.

"Starving" I replied.

Sandra led the way to the door. "Um, Dan, I think I we need our flashlight on again" Dan switched on the light. I turned back. Alex was stretched out a cot.

"You coming?" I asked.

"No, I'm going to sleep."

"Ok. Guys, let's go"

**A/N: Did you guys like this chapter? So I still need to see Twilight. It's bugging me. It came out yesterday in Spanish. I'll probably see it in Spanish before I see in English. According to the schedule it still won't come till after the 20****th****. Here are the movies showing right now: **_**Ghost town, Eagle Eye, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, Lakeview Terrace, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Quarantine, Bolt, Night in Rodanthe, Australia, Madagascar 2, Flash of Genius, Four Christmases, Body of Lies, Quantum of Solace, W., Max Payne, The Secret Life of Bees, **_**and**_** My best Friends Girl. **_**But no TWILIGHT! But I here I only have to pay $3 a ticket and $3 for a jumbo popcorn and a slushy. It's only has one auditorium and it plays the national anthem before each showing, but it's not bad. So I guess I shouldn't be complaining. QUESTIONS, COMMENTS or CONCERNS? REVIEW! Thank you**

**Leah**


	12. Matter of Charm

**Disclaimer: I do not own this.**

**Chapter 12**

**SPOV**

Dan beamed his flashlight in front of us as we walked up a never ending tunnel. After a minute or two there was a light ahead. This was not the first time I had walked down this tunnel. How these people managed to walk in the dark tunnels without a light was still a mystery to me. I talked to Amy the whole telling her about the cave system and anything I hadn't hit on already.

"Why is Alex so tired?" she asked.

"Well, Dan and I sorta fell asleep, but he stayed up the _entire_ time waiting for you to wake up." She had no response for that and looked a bit embarrassed and just stared ahead. I remembered and had a stab of jealousy the way Alex took care of Amy.

_"Alex, she'll be okay trust me on this one"_

_"It's all my fault Sandra if I hadn't been so stupid she would be bouncing around just as you are."_

_"Alex you have to eat something"_

_"Go away Dan. I'll eat later."_

_"At least get some rest."_

_"Not until she wakes up."_

He had sat by Amy's bedside all morning and afternoon. _Ah Alex I wish I had a brother like you_. Well he _was_ my brother, but not completely. But, I had Dan. I sighed. What would I do without Dan?

I looked ahead. There was light shining through. Finally! We had passed no one. Thank God! Because if we had they would have probably stopped and asked nosy questions and delayed us or insist one helping us find the way. _Which I think, we would know by now from walking down it the hundredth time today._ I thought sourly.

I walked into the mess hall or whatever it was. I bounded into the kitchen. I was overjoyed to see that Trudy was still cleaning up from lunch and planning dinner. She looked up when she saw me

"Can I help you?" she asked pleasantly.

I put on my best smile. "Yes you could. Amy is awake and I was wondering if there was anything you had anything for her to eat."

"I think so," she said looking past my shoulder to Amy, "But I'm afraid it's not very much."

"Anything is fine" piped up Amy from behind me.

Trudy continued on talking to Amy while she ruffled through cabinets hunting for food "You gave you're family quite a scare with all your injuries there sweetie, but Doc fixed you up fine I hope." She looked up momentarily to see Amy nod before going on. "I hope you like it here in the caves. You were lucky when we found you all in our, well I guess you could call it our 'parking garage.' The others had just come back from a raid and Geoffrey and I were assigned to take the van back. Well, there!"

She had piled some left over rolls, cold soup and meat on to a tray and handed it to Amy.

'Thank you" she said before we left the room.

"Where are you going I asked her?" I asked Amy when she walked right past the tables and counters.

"I'm taking this food to Dan."

"Aren't you going to eat it?"

"No. And if he asks say I already ate"

I rolled my eyes. There would be no talking her out of it. Dan came up to me and grabbed my hand.

"You know I hate it when you do that," he said.

"Do what?"

"Charm people. You bound into a place with your dark curly hair flying and then you stare at them with dark puppy brown eyes, but on a perfect smile and say 'Oh please.' He said mimicking me. I laughed. He switched on the light as we entered _again_ into the tunnel.

"Hey guys?" Amy asked as we were devoured by darkness. "No turning off the light and making out ok? I want to get to the other end with out being mentally scared for life."

_Why did I tell her about Dan kissing me again? Oh yeah, I can't keep secrets._

**A/N: I liked this chapter because it has Sandra in it. Review please. Consider it an early Christmas present.**


	13. Tripped Over

**Disclaimer: as you all should know by now, I don't own this. **

**Chapter 13**

**AMPOV**

Sandra and Dan went back to sleep they had hardly gotten any. Doc had gone to do some stuff and well…I went exploring. I took Dan's flashlight; I think I would've gotten lost without it. The light beam would attract someone's attention, but from what I'd herd, this was the southern tunnel and people only came to see Doc and from what I'd herd everyone was working.

I didn't go far. The cave were dark and scary and…quite. I thought I had gone far enough. I didn't want to get lost. I wasn't ready to go back either. I shone flash light all around, the walls, the ceiling, to make sure nothing was lurking in the corners. I sat down a curled up into a ball against the wall. It was so dark. What about the sky? Did people here ever see it except through little cracks in the ceiling? How long would we be here for? Forever? Or would we leave again? Pack up and go someplace else as we always did? I sat there pondering these questions for awhile.

I don't know how long I sat there. But suddenly something tripped over me. I heard a thud of someone landing on the ground and a curse.

"What the-?" a male voice came out of the darkness. I scrambled away from were I was. I could here him on his hands and knees feeling for me. He must have found my flashlight because I herd a click and he found me with the beam.

"Oh, it's you" he said. It annoyed me that everyone here knew who I was already but that I didn't know them. "What are you doing out here?" That was a very good question.

"Well…the room was getting boring and I…"

"It's okay. You don't have to explain." That's was a relief.

"I wasn't expecting anyone in this passageway. Sorry for tripping you."

"That's okay. We were working in the garden and Kyle was swinging a pick. He missed the ground and stabbed himself in the leg with it."

"Ouch." I said. I had no clue who this Kyle person was but…that had to hurt. How did he miss the ground?

"Yeah 'Ouch'. Anyway I was on my way to Doc's to get him some stuff. He's got quite a few costumers huh?" He said laughing. "Come on I'll take you back." He said offering his hand to me. I grabbed and he helped me to my feet. I hoped he would keep the light on. He did. We walked and he shone his light were we walked

Then I thought occurred to me. "Wait if this guy is hurt…shouldn't you be in a bit of a hurry?" I asked.

He laughed. Why? "Me, hurry for Kyle?" he said mockingly. "He was being stupid and how he managed to stab himself I have no idea. A few more minutes of pain won't kill him."

I thought about this. We reached the hospital. My family was still asleep. In the light I could see him clearly. He had dark hair and eyes and well muscled as well as tall.

He turned to me. "We haven't been introduced have we?"

I shook my head.

"I'm Jared Howe."

"Amy" I said

"Nice to meet you even if it was a strange way to meet some one. Welcome to the caves."

I could already see it. People would ask him "Have you met Amy yet?" and he would say "Yes, I tripped over her in the dark." Great, just great. First I come here unconscious and in Alex's arms. For the next month I would probably here "Are you okay?" and then I meet the second person third person I know in the caves by getting tripped over. Not a great start.

Jared had found everything he wanted and was on his way out. "See ya around"

"Yeah, bye" I said.

Life here was not off to a good start. How long we would be here? Was this permanent?

**A/N Okay so how did everyone like this chapter? Sorry for the long waits. And I thought I would have extra time during the holidays. I was dreaming. Working, cleaning, cooking, shopping, weird relatives…it was busy. Review. I need feedback. Positive or negative. Criticism helps too! Alright the way it's looking right now it might take a while for the next chapter. So please be patient. Keep reading.**


	14. Distance

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. It was written by Stephanie Meyer, not me.**

**Chapter 14**

**APOV**

When I got back to the hospital everyone was still asleep. I dug through my backpack that Dan had remembered to pick up. I found my deck of cards where half the cards were missing and played solitaire. I also tried to work on the magic trick Dan showed me, but I sucked at it.

Everyone woke up in time for dinner. We ate, keep to ourselves and came back to the hospital. Doc came in to check on us. There was also this weird crazy old guy who came to give us a tour. He name was Jeb and he showed us around the caves. It was dark and not so hot. He showed us the main garden, where most people slept (except us because there wasn't enough space) and where to get washed up and get water. That was basically the cave system. It was so dark and confined we all were grabbing a firm hold on each other so we wouldn't get lost.

When we got back we talked, about nothing really. When we ran out of words we became silent. We had known each other long enough that these silences were comfortable. One by one we fell asleep staring at the sky through the gaps in the rocks. We were all in our separate cots. They're breathing sounded so far away. I got off my cot and started pushing it towards Sandra's. With the sound of the metal scrapping against the rock Alex woke up. Sleeping eyed he saw what I was doing. We smiled at each other, thinking the same thing. We picked up the cots so they made less noise. We had to move Dan's so…we shoved him off. He fell on the floor with a thud.

"Wha the –." He muttered. Alex and I quietly snicker and went back to work.

"You two are paying for this in the morning." Dan grumbled before he crawled back on his cot and fell asleep.

Alex and I high-fived each other. The cots were all pushed together now and it was just like we were all on the ground again asleep under the stars.

**A/N: Okay I liked this chapter. I don't know if you did or not but I did. REVIEW! Sorry for the late update.**


	15. Tangled

**Disclaimer: I do not own the host nor do I pretend. I just own the characters of my own invention. **

**Chapter 14**

**ALPOV**

So let's see. We've had been in the caves a few days now. I was beginning to be able to find my way around the darkness unnerved me. Everyone had been nice; most of them avoided the question of how we got here…which was smart, because I didn't feel like telling the painful parts of it.

There was a kid about me age Jamie. He, Dan, Amy and I were playing football together in the "Game Room." Which in short, it was just another cave. Dan tried to get Sandra to play but after a few minutes of her throwing wounded ducks that bounced of the ceiling she decided to quit. My guess was she probably went to go seek company and try and settle her curiosity with endless questions.

We had called a break after much running around and Jamie had gone to get us some water. Jamie was excited to have people his own age around. So far we hadn't really been accepted in the caves, mostly because everyone was so old and wrapped up with everyone else. The thing that struck me was that here EVERYONE was paired up with someone else. Well mostly everyone.

Jamie came back after a few minutes carrying a bucketful of water. The game resumed. Amy was on my team and Jamie and Dan were on another. We weren't keeping score, but I was pretty sure we were winning. I threw Amy a pass. Jamie lunged and tackled her to the ground.

**APOV**

I stared at Jamie. We were entangled with each other. I blushed and hoped he didn't see it in the dim light given off by the lanterns. He offered me his hand to help me up. My two brothers stared at me with incredulous expressions on their faces. This situation was both weird and uncomfortable. There was an interruption as some people entered the room.

A man spoke out "Hey I heard you were having a game."

"That's right" said Jamie.

"Mind if we join." I recognized this voice as Jared's.

"No problem." Some other people filed in. I took the crowd as my chance to escape. I found Sandra back in the hospital asking pestering Doc to answer questions about alien medicine. She smiled when she saw me.

"You look like you need a bath" she commented. I glanced down at myself. I hadn't realized how sweaty I was until then.

"Come on I'll go with you"

"Okay."

Jamie, Jamie, Jamie…

There was something about him

**A/N: Short chapter I know. Not a lot happens but… still reviews please…running out of ideas.**


	16. Not a Kid

**Disclaimer: I didn't come up with the Host, or the caves, or Jared, Jamie or Melanie, and while we're on that Maleficent. **

**Chapter 16**

ALPOV

There was raid coming up. I was determined to go. I would ask Jared about it. They were looking for volunteers to go. It would be a big one. No secrets were kept here. After the football game I spoke to Jared.

"Jared? You got a minute?"

"Yeah kid what's up?" he said turning away from his girlfriend. I cringed inwardly and balled up my fist at the nick-name. I was not simply a "kid" I was grown up enough to be a man.

"There's a raid coming up this week and I want to help out."

"Ha, sorry kid. Stay here and go to school."

"I'm not a kid anymore." I said looking him straight in the eye seriously. By now the conversation had died down around us and I felt people's eyes on me.

"Go on" said Jared.

I was mad. He was trying to humiliate me. "For two whole years, I led my family through the desert. We weren't caught by seekers. Not once did I ever lose someone or leave them behind. We made it here alive. Even if we hadn't found you we'd still be just fine. I'm not a kid and I can handle something as simple as going on a raid."

Jared turned his back on me and left. It was silent everyone stared. Dan and Jamie wouldn't look at me. I left too.

As I walked back to the hospital a plan was forming in my head. I was only in the hospital a few minutes when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and found myself staring at Jared girlfriend. Her name started with an M. What was it? Mellissa, Maleficent, Melanie...Melanie. Yes that was it.

"Wanna talk a minute Alex?"

'Not really."

Ignoring me she sat down on a cot across from me. I stared off into space trying to pretend she wasn't there.

"You know you're just like him."

I stared back at her confused. "Like who?"

"Jared" she said and before she got up and left.

Was I like Jared? Well it wasn't such a bad thing was it?

I wasn't a kid. Someday other people would have to realize that.

**A/N: I like this chapter. Do you? Please review.**


	17. Just 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. Stephanie Meyer does. I only own my characters.**

**Chapter 17**

**ALPOV:**

There was a soccer match going on Jamie invited me and Amy. I declined, but Amy went with him. I was sitting in the hospital again Sandra was in the kitchens helping out. Dan was playing soccer as well.

"Why aren't you playing soccer?" I asked.

"Cause I didn't feel like playing anymore. Where's Amy?" he said defensively.

"I don't know, I thought she was with you. Why?"

"None of your business."

"My sister is my business."

"Fine if you won't tell me I'll find her myself." He said defiantly and strode out the door.

"I don't even know where she is so how could I tell you?" I called after him.

Why Did Jamie want to know where Amy was? Weird. Not like I cared if they were friends or not. Then it hit me. Jamie was hitting on her. Hadn't I seen that stupid little love stuck face on him when he saw her- the same one Dan had on when he was with Sandra? No! I wouldn't allow this. Jamie was nice but I didn't want him with _my sister._

Then I had another train of thought: What if she liked him back? Wait! Where was I going? We'd only been here a week.

I was about to go look for Amy myself when the crazy old guy came in. What was his name again? Joe, John, Jim, Jeb? Jeb. That was it.

"Hey. Look kid." He paused seeing my angry reaction to "kid" "You mind if we sit down and have a nice little conversation?"

I shrugged and sat down while he sat down on the cot across from me.

"Alright, just to get it out: We've got some souls in these caves."

I just gaped at him. Then I understood. "Where? Why are they here? Did you capture them? Where are they being held? Does everyone know?"

"Well let's answer you're questions in order shall we?" I nodded gravely. Souls in the caves? Unthinkable. Unacceptable.

"Where are they? Well right I believe they both are working in the kitchen." In the kitchen? What were they free laborers? Well at least these people didn't waste their resources.

Jeb continued "Why are they here? That's very detailed and somewhat personal to them and the people who care about them?" This part made no sense to me.

Jeb sensed but ignored it. "Did we capture them? One was looking for us and walked right out almost to our front door and the other we _did_ kinda capture."

"Wait, Souls know we are here? How did that one _find_ us?"

"Alright listen up, the souls here are family. They are loved. They would never do anything to hurt us and in the event that either you or your family hurts them you shall be kicked out of the caves or killed." I was shocked into silence.

"Now kid,"

"I'm not a kid."

"In my book every hot-head that is under 30 is a kid. I know that you're the leader of this family of yours. You're not going on the raid this week and I know you're upset about it, but you'll have other chances.

"I know how to tell you and your brother apart because you act like a 40 year old and concern yourself with everyone in your family. Your brother acts like a sixteen year old, with that good looking girlfriend of his and being love struck. You on the other hand are more mature and have taken responsibility as your life style. You may act 40 on the inside. But on the outside and deep down you're sixteen. I've seen how you act around your sister. You want to be her best friend and her brother, but you act like her father. Alex, you're sixteen. Don't you think it's time you let someone else take care of you?"

No one ever had told me that. How could I act sixteen? The world was overrun by aliens and I had three people who trusted me with their lives to get them fed clothed and sheltered. And remain free and alive.

"I'll leave it up to you to tell them about Wanda and Sunny. Just so you know who they are, they're the two girls who are partners with the O'Shea brothers, the tall ones with the black hair. Good luck and have a nice day."

I sat. Amy came giggling in with Jamie with Dan and Sandra behind them. I couldn't take it in state my mind was in. I stormed past Amy and started running down the tunnel. I needed to get away. There was darkest ahead. Just plain dark. No light.

**A/N: Sorry for like the 4 month wait. I got out of the mood. But now I'm back in it. PLEASE review. I know how strange this is but reviews really motivate me to finish chapters. **


	18. Different Ways

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Host, Stephanie Meyer does. **

**Chapter 18:**

**DPOV: **

"So in conclusion, if we do anything against them we get killed." What was this? Some alien sanctuary. I had listened long enough to Alex. We couldn't stay here anymore. What was I thinking? Just being here a week was like…I don't know having family again. Seeing someone else besides Amy, Sandra and Alex and being able to talk to other people was great feeling.

Then we heard Jamie coming down the hall

"Amy…Amy we're making cookies. You want to come?"

"I'll be right there Jamie." Amy flushed pink. So now she had a friend (_boyfriend)_. "Um…I'll talk with you later about this Alex." Alex glared at her for skipping out on important discussion before she skipped out of the room.

"So what if there are aliens here?" asked Sandra surprising us all. "I'm staying. I've known there were _souls _here since our second day."

"What? How did you find out?" blurted out Alex, angrily "And how come you didn't tell us?"

"It's amazing what you can find out when you're nice to people." Replied Sandra saucily. "I've even talked to one of them as I worked in the kitchen. She's quite nice actually, Wanda is."

"_Wanda?_ Whatever you said to her I don't care but how come you _didn't _tell us?" Alex was angry now. "Sandra, Maria is _dead_ because of them!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!" she said tears in her eyes and giving him the death glare. "You don't think I know! She was my _mother. _My father is gone too taken over by one of them. I know the aliens here could be some one's daughter or sister. You don't think that I know that! But they feel pain too Alex! They feel pain too! They have lives and I've listen to them talk. They know they were wrong to come to this planet and it wasn't there fault that they are the way they are."

"Sandra. Listen…what they've done…"

Then he slapped him which surprised us all a great deal. Sandra was a usually non-violent person.

"No Alex, you listen. I've found my home here and I'm staying. The souls are part of my home too."

She stormed out of the room. I knew better than to fallow her. She would come back and want me, cry on me.

"So I guess that means you're staying too?" asked Alex his eyes trained on me. Stay in the caves? With Sandra? Yes of course. How could I be with out her?

"Yeah. Why aren't you?"

"I don't know." What was happening to our family?

**A/N: Question, comments or concerns? REVIEW! Okay so this chapter shows tension in the family. Everyone has different ideas about the future and no one really knows what going to happen. Sandra wants to finally be in one place and stay in the caves, which also means Dan, will stay as well.**

**Alex can't stand being in the caves and having life decided for him and wants to be on the move but is unwilling to separate from Dan. Amy wants to stay we Jamie, but can't stand being away from Alex.**

**What will happen? Come to think of it…even I don't know. Well I do (knida).**


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